Andersen Racing driver tests 2010-10-28

Andersen Racing Is Busy With Driver Tests at Sebring
SEBRING, Fla., Oct. 28 - The Firestone Indy Lights, Star Mazda and
USF2000 seasons are over for 2010, but Andersen Racing is busy this week
giving five drivers the opportunity to test cars...

Andersen Racing Is Busy With Driver Tests at Sebring

SEBRING, Fla., Oct. 28 - The Firestone Indy Lights, Star Mazda and
USF2000 seasons are over for 2010, but Andersen Racing is busy this week
giving five drivers the opportunity to test cars on two different steps
on the Road to Indy.

The team, which is based at Andersen RacePark in Palmetto, Fla., and
sponsored by Allied Building Products Corp., is conducting the tests at
Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Fla.

Conor Daly of Noblesville, Ind., the 2010 titlist in the Star Mazda
Championship presented by Goodyear, and Nick Andries of Pinellas Park,
Fla., who raced in the Skip Barber National series as well as selected
events in the Star Mazda series this year, completed a half-day test
yesterday in the team's Firestone Indy Lights cars.

Daly, who drove for Andersen Racing in the Star Mazda series in 2009,
continued to build on what he learned yesterday with another day of
Firestone Indy Lights testing today thanks to support from Performance
Friction, the Star Mazda series and Andersen Racing. Performance Friction
is the exclusive brake pad and disc supplier for the Star Mazda and
USF2000 series, and its also supplies brake components for many Firestone
Indy Lights teams and many other series around the world.

Daly, 18, drove a Firestone Indy Lights car once before in a test
conducted by Sam Schmidt Motorsports last month at Putnam Park in Mount
Meridian, Ind.

"It was good; we learned a lot and improved the car quite a bit," said
Daly Thursday afternoon after the Andersen Racing test. "It was great to
work with the Andersen Racing team again; I enjoyed it.

"We did about 150 laps over the two days. It was all clean. From my
perspective it was very productive.

"I have no idea what I'll be doing next year yet, but I thank Mazda and
the series, Andersen Racing and Performance Friction for providing the
opportunity to do this test," Daly added.

Daly said he liked driving a Firestone Indy Lights car. "They're a lot
heavier [than a Star Mazda car] but the power is nice; it's always fun to
be in a faster race car," he said.

"Yesterday both Nick and Conor did about 46 laps and today Conor did just
over 90 laps, so Nick did about 75 miles and Conor did about a total of
225 miles," noted Mike Reggio, one of Andersen Racing's engineers.

"Neither driver had any issues at all," Reggio said. "Both took it easy
and got used to the car, and neither of them even dropped a wheel. Nick
did his fastest lap at the end of the day yesterday. Both gave good
feedback. It was nice to see how Conor's feedback has improved over the
year since I worked with him in the past."

"It was my first time in a Firestone Indy Lights car, and it was really
fun," said Andries, 19. "It's definitely different from the Mazda, but I
had a good time. I was happy with my performance. I just wanted to
learn as much as possible.

"There's a lot more horsepower in a Firestone Indy Lights car than the
Star Mazda car, and it's definitely heavier," Andries added. "The main
differences were the horsepower and I think the Star Mazda brakes
better. But overall I thought the car was stable; it's not as responsive
as a Star Mazda car, but it's definitely fast, that's for sure."

Like Daly, Andries' plans for 2011 are up in the air. "Right now I'm
leaning towards a full season in Star Mazda and maybe some Firestone Indy
Lights races, but it's a matter of finding funding, like everything
else," he said.

Andersen Racing is the top team in the Star Mazda championship. It won
the team title in 2008 and 2010, and finished second in those point
standings in 2009.

Tristan Vautier of Corenc, France, who finished fifth in the 2010 Star
Mazda series for Andersen Racing as a rookie, is scheduled to get his
first taste of driving a Firestone Indy Lights car in a half-day test
tomorrow at Sebring. Vautier, 21, won the first Star Mazda race he ever
competed in when he was victorious at the season opener at Sebring in
March. He also won a Star Mazda race at New Jersey Motorsports Park in
June.

Anders Krohn, 22, of Stavanger, Norway and Houston, Texas, who finished
second in the 2010 Star Mazda series in an Andersen Racing mount,
completed an Andersen Racing Firestone Indy Lights test earlier this year
at Putnam Park, and even competed in the Firestone Indy Lights race at
Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, N.Y. in July with the team.

The top two drivers in the Championship class of the "Cooper Tires
Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by Mazda" are slated
for half-day tests in Andersen Racing Star Mazda cars tomorrow at Sebring
too. The champion is Andretti Autosport's Sage Karam of Nazareth, Pa.,
while the runner-up is Patrick McKenna of Dublin, Ireland, who drives for
Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing. As part of his winnings,
Karam, 15, earned a scholarship from Mazda valued at $350,000 to help him
advance to the Star Mazda series next year.

McKenna hopes to join Karam there in 2011. Earlier this week McKenna, 23,
learned that he'd been named the Dunlop Motorsport Ireland "Young Driver
of the Year" for the second consecutive year.

Karam drove a Star Mazda car once before in a test conducted last year by
World Speed Motorsports at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, Calif.